Driver was drunk when he fatally hit man on dark Minnesota road and left scene, charges say

A driver was drunk when he fatally hit a man on a dark road in southern Minnesota and drove off, according to charges.

Brian Wayne Nelson of Harmony, Minn., was charged Tuesday in Fillmore County District Court with two counts each of criminal vehicular homicide, criminal vehicular operation and drunken driving, and one count of careless driving in connection with the crash Sunday about 2 miles east of Granger on County Road 30.

Nelson was arrested, appeared in court Tuesday and was released from jail on his own recognizance ahead of a hearing on Aug. 26. Court records do not list an attorney for him.

Officials identified the man who was hit shortly after 12:15 a.m. as Cale Alan Jackson, 23, who lived about 10 miles south of the crash scene in Cresco, Iowa.

According to the criminal complaint:

Sheriff’s deputies arrived at the scene and saw Jackson’s body down on the side of the road and Nelson standing nearby.

Nelson told a sheriff’s sergeant that he had three beers before the crash. The sergeant noticed a strong odor of alcohol coming from Nelson, who repeatedly said he was sorry. He explained that he saw something down in the road but could not slow down his car in time.

Nelson kept driving west and arrived at the Long Branch bar just over the border in Iowa, where he told the bartender he thought he hit someone and should go back to the scene. Nelson arrived and saw Jackson on the ground.

The sergeant administered a preliminary breath test about an hour after the crash, and it measured Nelson’s blood alcohol content at 0.166%, more than twice the legal limit for driving. Nelson then said he might have had more than three beers but “wasn’t counting,” the complaint quoted him as saying.

Jackson’s girlfriend shared with a deputy that they were at the same bar that night and argued. She said he left on foot to cool off. Shortly afterward, he was hit by Nelson’s car.

An autopsy on Jackson’s body found fresh bruises indicating injuries to his upper chest and shoulder that he sustained before the crash.

“Given the location of the injuries and minimal damage to [Nelson’s car],” the complaint read, “it is possible that the victim was lying on the road as claimed by Nelson.”

Court records in Minnesota show that Nelson was convicted in 2001 for drunken driving.